Spec me an upgrade please

[SiD-P]

Im currently running two GTX 285's in SLI.
And even though these cards can run everything I can throw at them, I think it's time for a change.

But the problem is, What to?

I want to move away from a multi-GPU setup, so my next upgrade has to be single-GPU

my system spec is:
i7 920 @4.0
Asus Rampage II Extreme
6GB Corsair Dominator 12800
nVidia GTX 285 SLI

Not been keeping up with the GPU market lately, so I dont really know where to start.

All advice welcome

 

[D13]

I think you will have a very hard time beating sli285 with a single card, i think a gtx 480 will be as close as you will get using single gpu.

 

[HeX]

I honestly wouldn't even bother changing them, 2 x 285's is still a really good setup.

The only single card you could change to would be a GTX480, and performance would be pretty much identical to what you have now, so not really worth doing.

To actually upgrade you'd need to go for SLI GTX470's.

 

[Marine-RX179]

Yea. With your GTX285 SLI, there's nothing REALLY worth you upgrading this gen (unless you don't mind blowing big cash for little improvement). Best to wait for 2nd gen cards which would hopefully be better and eliminate the weaknesses of cards from both camps.

 

[SiD-P]

To be honest the upgrade to a GTX480 will cost me approximately 80-90 quid.

a couple of friends running single GTX285's are willing to take them off my hands.

The way I see it is that 480 will give me a boost in performance in non-SLI games, but I think it's more a case of me having the itch for some new tech to play with

 

[HeX]

I know that itch

Go for it then, can always grab another one down the line

 

[D13]

I think if you can hold on until the inevitable fermi refresh, we have all seen the benefits from 460 over previous fermi cards, gtx475/485 are going to turn up eventually, perhaps by the end of the year to compete with ati's refresh.

 

[SiD-P]

I know that itch

Go for it then, can always grab another one down the line

That's what I been doing over the last few gens.

But like now, when new cards come along they do not offer much in terms of performance gains.

I went from

GTX 8800 to
GTX 8800 SLI to
GTX285 then to
GTX285 SLI.

it's a big bummer for those with multi-GPU setups of top tier cards.

But that damned itch just wont subside

 

[SiD-P]

I think if you can hold on until the inevitable fermi refresh, we have all seen the benefits from 460 over previous fermi cards, gtx475/485 are going to turn up eventually, perhaps by the end of the year to compete with ati's refresh.

I could do, but the cost will inevitably be higher for marginal performance increase over the current gen.

 

[D13]

I could do, but the cost will inevitably be higher for marginal performance increase over the current gen.

well if you are on a strict budget and you are determined to change to a more recent card then gtx480 it pretty much your main choice, unless you could stretch a bit and go for the dualgpu 5970

 

[HW91]

I think if you can hold on until the inevitable fermi refresh, we have all seen the benefits from 460 over previous fermi cards, gtx475/485 are going to turn up eventually, perhaps by the end of the year to compete with ati's refresh.

hah.

there isn't a single chance that this will happen unless TSMC improves their 40nm process substantially

475 would have 464 shaders and 485 would have 496 or 512 which means lower yields and lower yields means less money for nvidia, they're going to keep the chips as they are for a long time, it's like how AMD made dual and tri cores out of quad cores because they had defects

 

[D13]

hah.

there isn't a single chance that this will happen unless TSMC improves their 40nm process substantially

475 would have 464 shaders and 485 would have 496 or 512 which means lower yields and lower yields means less money for nvidia, they're going to keep the chips as they are for a long time, it's like how AMD made dual and tri cores out of quad cores because they had defects

well tbh I am not familiar with the specifics of gpu architecture, but I believe the 460 represents a change from the original 465/470/480 fermi cards, with it we see lower temps less power draw and great overclock potential, I 'think' that the 460 have some of their potential perf reduced for the sake of cost, and that theoretically with that 'unlocked' you would get even higher performance which would be 475/485 however i am no expert so i coudl easily be plain wrong.

 

[SiD-P]

well if you are on a strict budget and you are determined to change to a more recent card then gtx480 it pretty much your main choice, unless you could stretch a bit and go for the dualgpu 5970

Not really tied down to a budget, but the outlay must reflect a cost effective result.

the 5970 looks like a great card, I have had a play with a mates card. But I want to move away from multi-GPU for now. And If I was to multi GPU ATi cards it would have to be 5870 X-fire.

It's all about minimising capital loss @ upgrade intervals.

 

[D13]

Not really tied down to a budget, but the outlay must reflect a cost effective result.

the 5970 looks like a great card, I have had a play with a mates card. But I want to move away from multi-GPU for now. And If I was to multi GPU ATi cards it would have to be 5870 X-fire.

It's all about minimising capital loss @ upgrade intervals.

all i am saying is that it would be annoying for you to spend a lot of money on a card then few months down the line see a 'better' version of it released that runs cooler/faster. Or when the refrsh comes see prices for the current cards drop, e.g look at gtx 465, i think before 460 was released it was around 220 quid something like that now you can get one for about £50 less than that.

Either way its not a bad situation as 480 will give high perf for a long time anyways

 

[SiD-P]

Yeah, I know where your coming from.

So far there are no clear signs that Fermi refresh is coming any time soon.

 

[SiD-P]

Thanks for your help guys.

Sold off my two GTX285's for £290 and bought a GTX480 for £370.

Can't wait until the new card arrives.